Elementary Lever Harp Ensemble
We're going to be rehearsing three pieces - 'I want a Kitten' and 'Miss Minor and Miss Major' by Anna Dunwoodie, both duets, and 'The Flea Waltz' arranged for 6 parts by Anna Dunwoodie.
It doesn’t matter if you have or haven’t had previous ensemble experience, our awesome tutors – Mandipa Mhuka and Joelle Ireland have had lots of ensemble experience and are looking forward to working on this music with elementary harpers.
You can sign up for the Elementary Harp Ensemble regardless of whether you are a full weekend attendee at Harp Fest NZ or not!
Music is available from 1 January 2026.
It doesn’t matter if you have or haven’t had previous ensemble experience, our awesome tutors – Mandipa Mhuka and Joelle Ireland have had lots of ensemble experience and are looking forward to working on this music with elementary harpers.
You can sign up for the Elementary Harp Ensemble regardless of whether you are a full weekend attendee at Harp Fest NZ or not!
Music is available from 1 January 2026.
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Miss Minor and Miss Major
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I want a Kitten - Yet to come!
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The Flea Waltz - Yet to come!
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* The music is written for small harps with a range of not more than the C below middle C to three Gs above middle C (26 strings) and if you have a smaller harp, you could squeeze it into fewer strings if you wanted. There is one lever setting in one part, but no lever changes. Our keys are C major, G major (1 sharp) and D major (2 sharps).
*Being part of an ensemble is awesome! You will improve…..
- your listening skills,
- your counting,
- your ability to keep playing,
- or (alternatively) the skill of keeping calm, counting bars and then dive back in when you can.
*While it’s awesome to be as well prepared for this workshop, if you haven’t participated in an ensemble before, be prepared to….
-possibly feel overwhelmed by having harpists on either side of you… and experience that ‘did I play that note/mistake’ feeling.
-that the music is played faster than you practiced it, or its too fast… this is often caused by the fact that the ensemble doesn’t stop/pause when YOU want it to.
-you may end up just playing one or other hand on the day – that’s ok!
What can you do to prepare?
-listen to the audio files – these are at the preferred performance speed, but this is not the speed you will rehearse them at.. it will be slower, and then, hopefully, will increase in speed as you become familiar… together.
You have all the audio files so you can play your part either with the same part or with the other part, or with both together. You also have the score (both parts) of ‘I Want a Kitten’ and ‘Miss Minor and Miss Major’ and full score (only) of ‘The Flea Waltz’.
If the audio is too fast, try one or other hand to start with, or find an app such as ‘speedshifter’ to use to slow down the music to rehearse. Note: Youtube videos (above) can also be slowed to different speeds!
NOTE – it’s a plinky plonky computer music recording… it’s not a real person…
-write in any counting or finger work you need, or any other notes you have observed from the audio recordings.
-the letters in boxes are rehearsal marks and are used to instruct you where to go back to for a restart.
On the day…
-Do as much as you can
-Expect it may be too fast, too busy, too much …. and you may have to drop out… keep following your music, stay calm and come back in when you know where you are.
-Put your hand up or call out if you want to restart, repeat, don’t know where you are, want to play it another time.
Remember, this experience is either for fun or to upskill you in the area of ensemble skills – don’t take it too seriously – we’re all reading from the same score, and no-one – NO-ONE is judging.
*Being part of an ensemble is awesome! You will improve…..
- your listening skills,
- your counting,
- your ability to keep playing,
- or (alternatively) the skill of keeping calm, counting bars and then dive back in when you can.
*While it’s awesome to be as well prepared for this workshop, if you haven’t participated in an ensemble before, be prepared to….
-possibly feel overwhelmed by having harpists on either side of you… and experience that ‘did I play that note/mistake’ feeling.
-that the music is played faster than you practiced it, or its too fast… this is often caused by the fact that the ensemble doesn’t stop/pause when YOU want it to.
-you may end up just playing one or other hand on the day – that’s ok!
What can you do to prepare?
-listen to the audio files – these are at the preferred performance speed, but this is not the speed you will rehearse them at.. it will be slower, and then, hopefully, will increase in speed as you become familiar… together.
You have all the audio files so you can play your part either with the same part or with the other part, or with both together. You also have the score (both parts) of ‘I Want a Kitten’ and ‘Miss Minor and Miss Major’ and full score (only) of ‘The Flea Waltz’.
If the audio is too fast, try one or other hand to start with, or find an app such as ‘speedshifter’ to use to slow down the music to rehearse. Note: Youtube videos (above) can also be slowed to different speeds!
NOTE – it’s a plinky plonky computer music recording… it’s not a real person…
-write in any counting or finger work you need, or any other notes you have observed from the audio recordings.
-the letters in boxes are rehearsal marks and are used to instruct you where to go back to for a restart.
On the day…
-Do as much as you can
-Expect it may be too fast, too busy, too much …. and you may have to drop out… keep following your music, stay calm and come back in when you know where you are.
-Put your hand up or call out if you want to restart, repeat, don’t know where you are, want to play it another time.
Remember, this experience is either for fun or to upskill you in the area of ensemble skills – don’t take it too seriously – we’re all reading from the same score, and no-one – NO-ONE is judging.